Hot Hot Hot
18/07/06
So the temperature
officially hit the 'bloody hot' mark today, somewhere
around 36 gazillion degrees or so. I'm told that
people don't fish when it's that hot, fish don't feed
or some such stuff. Well, I decided that standing in
the water was a better idea than sitting indoors
sweltering and headed up to my shady pool for an hour
this afternoon.
I slowly crept up to the tail of the pool, dropped a size 16 orange klinkhammer just into the shadows and 'SIP' the fly dissapeared with exaggerated slowness. I forced myself to wait for what seemed like minutes but was only around 2-3 seconds and tightened hard into a lovely brownie.
The rest of my short trip passed relatively uneventfully, with one more brownie and a small dace taking the fly, funnily enough the palm sized dace hit the fly like a rocket while both trout were barely detectable takes.
Just goes to show though, it's always worth heading up the river, regardless of what convention tells you regarding fishing conditions.
Nadder Brownie in action
And the same brownie returning to the slightly slimy, silty depths...
I slowly crept up to the tail of the pool, dropped a size 16 orange klinkhammer just into the shadows and 'SIP' the fly dissapeared with exaggerated slowness. I forced myself to wait for what seemed like minutes but was only around 2-3 seconds and tightened hard into a lovely brownie.
The rest of my short trip passed relatively uneventfully, with one more brownie and a small dace taking the fly, funnily enough the palm sized dace hit the fly like a rocket while both trout were barely detectable takes.
Just goes to show though, it's always worth heading up the river, regardless of what convention tells you regarding fishing conditions.
Nadder Brownie in action
And the same brownie returning to the slightly slimy, silty depths...
Lazy Days
15/07/06
Lovely lazy summer days,
blue skies, light breeze and in the late 20's
temperature wise. Popped out onto the Wilton Nadder
today for an hour just to wade in the cool water of
the main pool more than in anticipation of catching
any fish.
The water level seems to really have dropped on the Nadder inside the last week or two, the bottom of several areas that were exposed late last summer are beginning to peek out again and we have months of summer left to go. Really not good news.
Still, I had a lovely hour in the shade, felling the tree that laid across the pool over the winter has paid dividends as I can now cast a line to the far side without having to skim the water surface anymore. 2 lovely brownies graced me with their company so I came home to mow the lawn with a suitably happy face :)
Now you see what I meant by shady pool!
The water level seems to really have dropped on the Nadder inside the last week or two, the bottom of several areas that were exposed late last summer are beginning to peek out again and we have months of summer left to go. Really not good news.
Still, I had a lovely hour in the shade, felling the tree that laid across the pool over the winter has paid dividends as I can now cast a line to the far side without having to skim the water surface anymore. 2 lovely brownies graced me with their company so I came home to mow the lawn with a suitably happy face :)
Now you see what I meant by shady pool!
A quick trip to the Avon
08/07/06
Popped over to the
middle Avon tonight, near Lower Woodford, and fished
a nice sluice pool that I know. Was only there for
about an hour and a half but had 11 brownies in that
time. All but two were returned to fight another day
as I had a rare bbq request for some fish. All of the
fish were taken on a cdc+elk fished in the surface
film.
If you fish the Nadder alot it's sometimes quite nice to head over to the Avon for an afternoon just to remind yourself that:
a) you can cast
b) you can still catch fish regularly despite the harsh lessons that the Nadder can dole out, and
c) it's not normal to loose quite so many flies each outing
A lovely fish, don't normally take them out of water to photograph but I landed him quickly and he went back in a splash after a quick photo session.
The two BBQ invitees
And another, just before being relieved of a cdc & elk and returned
If you fish the Nadder alot it's sometimes quite nice to head over to the Avon for an afternoon just to remind yourself that:
a) you can cast
b) you can still catch fish regularly despite the harsh lessons that the Nadder can dole out, and
c) it's not normal to loose quite so many flies each outing
A lovely fish, don't normally take them out of water to photograph but I landed him quickly and he went back in a splash after a quick photo session.
The two BBQ invitees
And another, just before being relieved of a cdc & elk and returned
The Photo Issue
05/07/06
Sometimes you forget
just how beautiful the rivers and watermeadows around
here actually are, then every so often it hits you
and you are gobsmacked by how lucky you are to live
in the middle of it all. This entry is nothing but a
few photos to remind those of you who arent living in
the middle of it to get on the train or in the car
and come enjoy it yourselves. I'm not selfish,
everybody should be able to experience this for
themselves!
Just how high can those grasses grow??
Trusty ol' muphy stalks imaginary sheep
The pool of frustration... Not a single fish from this likely looking lie in over 3 yrs of trying
If Laurie Stokes ever gets to see this, thats the weed you planted all those years ago! Good job.
A stretch of the Wylye thats owned by the council and is free to fish. If you can find it!
A beautiful Nadder brownie comes to hand. A good size for the Nadder too
The Wyle as it runs through Wilton
Just how high can those grasses grow??
Trusty ol' muphy stalks imaginary sheep
The pool of frustration... Not a single fish from this likely looking lie in over 3 yrs of trying
If Laurie Stokes ever gets to see this, thats the weed you planted all those years ago! Good job.
A stretch of the Wylye thats owned by the council and is free to fish. If you can find it!
A beautiful Nadder brownie comes to hand. A good size for the Nadder too
The Wyle as it runs through Wilton